Renegade by Andres Grosso Ciponte and Dacia Palmerino

I never knew a lot about Martin Luther. Growing up Catholic, I knew he was the man who broke from the church and began Protestantism, the 95 Theses, and not much more. I was interested to learn more about the man and this book did not disappoint me. It made the historical figure into a real person. I felt the struggles he went through as he tried to reason his way to God only to discovery that it was faith that was needed, not reason. 

I was surprised by some of the aspects of his life. These are the things that made him a real person to me and not just an historical figure to be either vilified to sanctified. 

The artwork was fairly disturbing and graphic throughout much of the book. I would not recommend this for children. Given that, I found the artwork to be compelling and that it added to the story. 

I received a free electronic ARC of this book through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Staked by Kevin Hearne

I really love this series. For the past several books the original main character, Atticus O'Sullivan, has been fighting a war with the world's vampires. A war that the vampires thought they won almost 2,000 years before. A war he aims to finish. But, as with the last book, O'Sullivan is no longer the only narrator. There are now two other druids besides him. Granuaile, his former apprentice, and Owen Kennedy, trapped on an island of slow time for the past two thousand years (and the druid who trained Atticus), are also rotating narrators in this volume. And each of his fellow druids also has agendas of their own.

It is a fast-moving, funny, and often violent book. The rotating narrations worked well for me. The weaving together of these stories made for an interesting ride. Hearne has an impressive knowledge of world mythologies and makes them understandable even to those who are not well-versed. I know a lot about a couple of ancient pantheons and little about a few others, but Hearne blows me away. The writing is confident and a lot of fun.

I listened to the audiobook; Luke Daniels does an excellent job of bringing each character, even the two hounds, to life. He vocally becomes each character and that enhances my enjoyment of this series.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has read the previous volumes. This is part of a continuing story and could be a bit confusing to those who start the series here. If you haven't read this series, you should. It has entertained me for many, many hours.

Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle

I first heard about Father Greg and his ministry while participating in the JustFaith program at my church. He works with gang members in East Los Angeles. He has done this for more than 20 years so far. He started Homeboy Industries as a way to help gang members transition to a life after gangs.

In this book, which he reads himself, he comes across as humble and loving. It is his love that has created a way out for his “homies.” They call him G or G-Dog. He calls them worthwhile human beings. More than calling them that, he treats them that way as well. And he shows their humanity in this book, breaking past stereotypes and letting the readers see it as clearly as he does.

Written after his diagnosis of leukemia, which has been in, as one of his homies put it, “in intermission” for several years now.  He wrote it to preserve the stories he has told for years. Stories that should live on even after he does.

This book has moments of pure hilarity and deep sorrow. More than once this book caused me to tear up, and I don’t easily cry over a book. He writes of successes and of disappointments. He has had many, presiding over 172 funerals of gang members at the writing of the book. But this is not a sad, morose book. Quite the opposite. Some of his stories made me laugh out loud, causing some startled looks from my daughter.

There is a strong dose of religion in this book; it was, after all, written by a Jesuit priest. But Father Greg comes to religion from a place of compassion and inclusiveness. He is the kind of Catholic I hope to be. I think that he and Pope Francis are on the same wavelength.

I strongly recommend this book. It presents a real view of how life in East Los Angeles can be. Better yet, it shows that there is always hope. Even the hardest heart can be opened to compassion, by compassion.

Godless by Pete Hautman

I chose to read this book because I have, more than once in my life, gone through a spiritual crisis of faith. I was a teenage Catholic boy ( a long time ago) and remember grappling with questions about my particular religion and religion in general. I was interested to see where this book would take me.

Fifteen-year-old Jason Bock finds himself stifled by traditional religion. His father is a traditional Catholic and wants Jason to be like him.  Jason doesn’t. In fact, Jason isn’t sure about the whole religion thing at all. His father forces him to attend a young person’s group at the church.

As a joke, he creates a religion, the “Chutegodians.” They worship the water tower at the center of town. He enlists his friend Shin to join. Then Magda Price, a girl he is really interested in but can never figure out how to approach, and even Henry Stagg, a violent, dangerous young man. The characters were not cardboard cutouts. They had some depth. And things never worked out quite as expected.

The joke soon takes on a life of its own. The religion that started out as a joke begins to be taken seriously, too seriously at times. This doesn’t happen to Jason, he is desperately trying to keep the lid on the situation. He discovers that although it is still just a lark to him, he has started something that he cannot control.

This was a more thoughtful book that I thought it would be at first. The ridiculousness of water towers as gods is not played for laughs. It is used as a way to explore what faith is and how ideas take on their own life. I keep circling back to that tired metaphor about not being able to put the genie back in the bottle. It was uncomfortable at times. But it made me think.

I am not totally in love with the book. Maybe because it made me so uneasy at times. I am not sure that this is for a seventh grade classroom library. Maybe high school. It is going to stay part of my personal library; even when uncomfortable the book made me ask some interesting questions.